THE THEATRES.
The reopening of Her Majesty's Theatre, on Saturdaylast, was signalized by an occurrence which has attracted notice as a test of the great re- sources of the establishment, and the prompt energy with which it is managed even in the absence of Mr. Lumley. The Elisir d'Amore had been announced for that evening, with a strong cast, in which the mighty Lablache was included. But a cold, the consequence of his journey from Paris, rendered Lablache unable to appear; and this was not communicated to the management till Friday afternoon, the day before the opening of the theatre- In such an emergency the public could have had no reason to complain of the repetition of the piece last performed, or of something be- longing to the ordinary repertoire: but it was at once resolved to produce an :Absolute novelty, in preparation for a subsequent evening. This WAS Verdi's new opera, I Due Foscari; and the piece was performed with as
much care and completeness—the performers being as perfect in their parts, the chorus as well drilled, the picturesque costumes, scenery, and decora- tions, as finished and well-appointed—as if it had been destined all along for that evening's performance. The title of this opera must make its subject familiar to every English reader who knows Lord Byron's tragedy, and to every playgoer who re- members Macready's fine performance of the aged Doge at Covent Garden.
The tragic features of the story are well preserved by the Italian dramatist: the intense home-feeling of the youthful Jacopo, which leads him to brave the hatred of his enemies and the terrors of the law, that he may breathe once more the air of his beloved Venice. the conflict of stern duty with pa- rental love in the heart of the Duke; and the calculating vengeance of the dark Loredano, satisfied only by the "payment of the lives" which it de- manded. Some scenes of domestic tenderness are produced by the intro-
duction of the wife and children of the younger Foscari; but these are subordinate to the darker features of the subject. The libretto is written with considerable elegance and force of language; and, had the composer done his part as well as the poet, I Due Foscuri would have been a lyrical tragedy of no ordinary power. We are not disposed to deny that Verdi has been gifted by nature with the elements of the musical character. But music, unfortunately, does not, like reading and writing, "come by nature "- the biography of every great musician will show how much of his powers has come by art. Verdi might have been a Jomelli or a Cienarosa had he undergone the years of deep study and unremitting labour imposed on those great artists by their in- structors and by themselves. But it is notorious that such studies and toils have long been abandoned in Italy; and that the young maestro now in vogue has never been subjected to them, is apparent from every one of his works. He has happy thoughts, without the rhetorical art to give them vigour, and to work them up, by growing strength and variety of language, to a climax of expressive power; and hence, when we meet with a striking idea, we find it sink, after a few bars, into some trivial commonplace. In such ideas moreover, he is poor: for the invention is never fertile till it has been highly cultivated. No composer, however great his genius, has ever been truly original till an advanced period of his career. Lastly, Verdi is singularly unskilled in counterpoint, even for a modern Italian. He shows his ignorance, indeed, not by making blunders in harmony, but by avoiding the use of it; an abstinence which we must ascribe either to inability, or to some systematic plan of reviving, by his unisonous choruses and orchestral accompaniments, the music of the ancient Greeks. We can hardly ascribe to him any notion so very classical as the latter, and therefore we must adopt the other solution. Donizetti, after composing some fifty operas, came to write with a strength and solidity of which his earlier works showed no indication. Perhaps this may one day be the case with Verdi.
I Due Foscari was produced at Rome about three years ago. In Italy it has in general been successful; but at Vienna it was decidedly con- demned. It was produced at Paris last season, with all the strength of the Italian company; and its favourable reception here on Saturday may be onicribed (as in Paris) to the excellence of the performance as well as the dramatic interest of the subject. Coletti, who sustained the character of the elder Foscari both in Paris and here, is the main support of the piece. His representation of the majestic old man, stern and inflexible in the dis- charge of his duty while his heart is swelling with tenderness and bursting with grief, was worthy of the greatest tragedian. We do not retain a sin- gle phrase of the commonplace musical language which he had to utter; but we still seem to hear the deep and beautiful tones of his voice, and the thrilling accents so expressive of emotion and passion. In the character of Jacopo Foscari, Fraschini appeared to greater advantage than in his pre- vious parts. His voice seems to have become acclimatee, and to have lost the roughness imparted to it by our London damps. The prison scene between Jacopo and his wife Lncrezia, (the sweetest passage in the opera,) was acted with much tenderness on both sides. In this scene, a pathetic effect is produced by the distant song of the gondoliers penetrating into the dungeon,—a contrast which makes the unhappy captive exclaim, "Lit si ride, quit si muor !" But this is a palpable imitation of a much more striking effect produced by similar means in the last scene of Ros- sini's Olen°. Madame Montenegro, who made her debitt on this occasion in the part of Lucrezia, is said to be a Spanish lady of high birth, whose his- tory possesses a romantic interest. Though not a performer of the first class, yet her powers, both as an actress and a singer, are very con- siderable. Her voice is deficient in volume, and she laboured under the disadvantage of being compelled to strain it, both in the recitatives and airs, beyond its proper compass; but she sang, as.well as acted, with energy and passion, and deserved the great applause she received. Bouche, as Loredano, looked sufficiently stern and gloomy, and sang as well as his music allowed him.
The opera, as we have said, was exceedingly well got up. The choris- ters sang their unisonous psalmody with a full body of sound; and, if the orchestra was often enormously loud, that was not the fault of the per- formers, but the sovereign will of Verdi.
On Thursday I Puritani was performed; when Lablache appeared once more as the old Puritan leader. The first glimpse of his gigantic figure pro- duced a burst of welcome from every part of the house, and it was several minutes before the tumult subsided. Lablache seemed in perfect health, in possession'of all his vocal power, and full of energy and vigour. Madame Ca.stellan sustained the part of Elvira with delicacy and sweetness. Gar- doni as Arturo, and Coletti as Riccardo, satisfied the expectations raised by their previous appearances.
The new ballet of Orithia, which was produced on Thursday, must rather be looked upon as an occasional entertainment than as one of those brilliant displays of scenic and choregraphic art in which Her Majesty's Theatre stands prekninent. The scene is in the country of the Amazons; which affords an opportunity for a picturesque distribution of a number of beauties armed with sword, spear, and buckler, and for several pas d'en- semble of a military character. The costumes are new and rich; and it is on these, more than any novelty of idea or of grouping, that the peculiar effect of the ballet depends. Lucille Grahn, who rejoined the company on Saturday last, dances admirably; but there is nothing to display her, like the poetical representation of inebriety in La Bacchante. Young Marie Taglioni has come out in one of those Sclavonic pas, in which a cap, jacket, and boots, are important features. This she dances with a great deal of spirit and vigour- but it is questionable whether she has yet ac- quired enough of dramatic expression to give full effect to a pas de caractere.
At the new Italian Opera in Covent Garden, Lucia di Lamnzermoor was produced on Tuesday, with Madame Persiani as Lucy Ashton, Signor Salvi as Edgar Ravenswood, and Signor Ronconi as Ashton. Persiani received an enthusiastic welcome after her three-years absence from London. Lucia has always been one of her most triumphant performances, and now it was more triumphant than ever. The feminine softness and tenderness of the character are congenial to Persiani; and the music of the part—a simple outline to be filled up and coloured by the songstress—is quite calculated to display her consummate skill and richness of fancy, as well as her ex- pressive power and marvellous execution. In all these respects she seemed to have gained rather than lost since we last heard her; and her Lucia was, as it ever had been, one of the most charming and affecting exhi- bitions which the lyrical drama can present. Salvi, a new accession to the London opera stage, (though he was here and sang at seve- ral concerts a few seasons ago,) made a great impression in Edgardo. His tall figure, handsome features, and manly bearing, created an instant impression in his favour; which was confirmed by the excel- lence of his performance. His voice—a tenor, of course—is full, rich, and flexible, of extensive range, and sweet as well as powerful. He did not bring out so forcibly as Fraschini the fierce and gloomy features of the character; nor did he equal the original Edgardo (Rubini) in the intense expression and exquisite finish displayed by that unrivalled singer in the dying scene; but in his tout ensemble, as representing the character, he was to us more satisfactory than either. Ronconi, the Ashton of Tuesday, is a baritone of the, highest reputation; but his efforts were marred by a via lent hoarseness.
The new theatre seems to have entered upon a very direct path of rivalry with the old. When the one plays a card, the other seems determined to " trump " it. Lucia di Lammermoor in the Haymarket was quickly fol- lowed by Lucia di Lammermoor in Covent Garden; and the Puriunti, per- formed in the Haymarket on Thursday, was to have been performed in Covent Garden this evening; though it has been postponed for the present.
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